Extensible furniture



J1me 1969 s. z. FARKAS 3,450,072

EXTENS IBLE FURNITURE Original Filed May 5, 1965 FIG.

//Vl/EN TOP 5. Z. FAR/(AS United States Patent 3,450,072 EXTENSIBLE FURNITURE Samuel Z. Farkas, 455 Ocean Parkway, Apt. 14G, Brooklyn, NY. 11218 Substitute for abandoned application Ser. No. 453,370,

May 5, 1965. This Int. Cl. A47b 1/00; B25h 1/14; A47c 17/04 US. Cl. 108-102 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Extensible furniture comprising at least twomating shelf portion means having end portions and relatively displaceable interlocking finger sections, longitudinal communicating grooves, and roller means to form a substantially stable supporting platform.

This invention relates to extensible furniture and more particularly to extensible furniture for use in bookcases, shelves and the like.

In providing suitable book storage space in a home or apartment, a decorator or owner is generally confronted with the limitations of a fixed length or area in which the bookcase or shelves must be confined. This, in turn, is predicated on the disposition of the principal furniture items in the room, i.e., couch, chairs, piano, etc.

The conflict which is thus presented is based on the fact that the bookcase must of necessity conform to predetermined dimensionsin which event the decorator must select between a custom-made furniture item crafted to the exact dimesnions, and a ready-made bookcase or shelf of standard length and width.

The advantages of the first option are manifest and include, of course, the built-in appearance of custom wrought furniture. These must be viewed, however, in the context of the enhanced expense attendant upon individually created furniture. In view of the intentional built-in quality of the furniture, the possibility of its utilizaton in another location in the same room or home (or elsewhere), is limited.

Moreover, the reduced initial cost of standard dimension items must be weighed against the correspondingly diminished likelihood that the standard length available will be the precise dimensions sought.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide furniture which, although of standard overall length, may be contracted or extended to conform to a precise overall dimension.

A further object of this invention is to provide furniture which, although of standard overall length, may be contracted or extended to conform to a precise overall dimension.

A further object of this invention is to provide bookcase furniture which is variable in length and in which positive travel limits are incorporated to preclude accidental disassembly.

Since, as discussed above, one of the factors militating against the selection of custom-made furniture is the increased expense, it is understandable that in the past certain extensible furniture units were unpopular because of their unusual cost differential over standard length furniture.

It is apparent that to the extent that the cost of variable length furniture approaches that of custom-made that the market potential of the former is proportionally decreased.

In the past, much of the expense of extensible furniture was attributable to the very features which made extensibility possible, i.e., the mechanical joinder and coupling application Dec. 11, 1967, Ser. No.

3,450,072 Patented June 17, 1969 equipment required for the furniture sections. In addition, the production cost of variable length furniture Was increased by the multiplicity of sections which comprise the furniture.

For example, certain prior art arrangements which included two relatively movable sections were manufactured in a manner which encompassed the fabrication of two substantially independent and individual units which were then coupled together in a manner which permitted the desired extensibility.

The emphasis on construction of individual sections which are then mechanically joined to form a collective unit obviously compounds production costs in accordance with the number of individual sections of the furniture.

Although these prior art techniques are useful and operative they have influenced, in their conceptual rigidity, the costs of extensible furniture and thereby established an upper limit on the available market demand for such furniture.

It is therefore another object of this invention to provide for the construction of extensible furniture in which the manufacturing process includes the fabrication of entire extensible units in a single manufacturing operation thereby substantially decreasing production costs.

These and other objects and features are achieved in a specific illustrative embodiment in which:

FIG. 1 shows a partial isometric view of the shelves in a partially extended position;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the shelves in a contracted position including a partial cut-away section;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a single shelf prior to manufacture in which the dotted lines indicate the necessary sawing operation;

FIG. 4 is a partial side elevation showing a roller 20 in groove 21; and

FIG. 4A is a partial sectional view along plane A-A of FIG. 4.

Referring now to FIG. 1 the shelf or bookcase unit in cludes vertical sides 10 and 11. Coupled to side 10 is left shelf portion 12. Similarly coupled to right side 11 is right shelf portion 13.

The interlocking fingers 14, 15, 16 of left shelf portion 12 mate with corresponding fingers 17, 18, 19 of right shelf portion 13.

The mutually supporting and sliding relationship between the left and right shelf portions is effected by special roller supports 20 (explained in detail herein with respect to FIG. 2) which ride in grooves 21.

Back boards 22 and 23 are arranged in overlapping relationship to provide a continuous enclosure for the rear of the shelves independent of the degree of extension or contraction of the shelves and moulding strip 24 forms the front edge portion of each shelf.

In FIG. 2 the relationship between the grooves 21 and the rollers 20 and 20' are clearly illustrated. Each of shelf fingers 14, 15, 18, 19 has a roller 20 inserted completely therethrough in a drilled hole.

Fingers 16 and 17 have shorter rollers 20' inserted in corresponding blind holes drilled in those fingers. It will be noted that in each instance the rollers 20 and 20' protrude beyond the edge of the respective fingers in which they are inserted and are seated in the grooves 21 of adjacent fingers.

It is apparent from FIG. 2 that as shelf portions 12 and 13 are extended, the rollers of adjacent fingers will be drawn toward each other. For example, the rollers 20 of fingers 15 and 18 will continue to move toward each other until the protruding lip 25 of roller 20 in finger 15 butts against the corresponding protruding lip 26 of roller 20 in finger 19.

Similar engagements will be made by adjacent lips of the remaining shelf fingers to provide a positive locking action which prevents the extension of the fingers beyond a predetermined length.

Assembly may be conveniently effected while in the contracted position with the rollers in place by slightly spreading the ends of fingers 14, 15, 16 and inserting therebetween the corresponding fingers 17, 18 and 19.

The disposition of the grooves 21 within the fingers is evident from FIG. 2 wherein adjacent grooves 21 in fingers 16 and 19 respectively form (on full contraction of the fingers) two adjacent parallel chambers which communicate for their entire lengths. The rollers 20 and 20' which as indicated above are inserted in drilled passages in fingers 16 and 19 are free fitting and adapted to literally roll when the right and left shelf portions are changed in position thereby reducing friction.

FIGS. 4 and 4A are detail renditions of a portion of shelf finger 15 showing the roller 20 extending completely therethrough and illustrates the drilled hole through the finger which accommodates the roller 20.

FIG. 3 illustrates the convenient process by which the two shelf portions 12 and 13 are manufactured from a single piece of stock by simply cutting along the dotted line. When the manufacturing operation is completed the left and right hand shelf portions are completely formed preparatory to machining the grooves 21 and passages for the rollers 20 and 20.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are illustrative of the application of the principles of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Extensible furniture comprising at least two mating shelf portion means having end portions and relatively displacea ble interlocking finger sections, longitudinal proximally disposed recesses in adjacent edges of said fingers, continuous circular passages in selected ones of said fingers communicating with said recesses in opposing edges of said fingers, and free-fitting roller means disposed in said circular passages and extending into said recesses for controlling said fingers to form a continuous stable supporting structure between said end portions irrespective of the displacement of said fingers, said recesses of adjacent fingers limiting the lateral displacement of said roller means in said passages.

2. Extensible furniture comprising at least two mating shelf portion means having displaceable interlocking finger sections, rectangular communicating grooves along adjacent mating edges of said fingers, continuous circular bearing passages in said fingers communicating with said grooves on opposing edges of said fingers, and free-fitting roller means housed in said bearing passages and extending into said grooves for a distance greater than one half the combined depth of adjacent grooves measured perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said fingers for preventing the relative displacement of said fingers beyond a predetermined distance and for combining said fingers to form a substantially unitary stable supporting surface,

said grooves of adjacent fingers limiting the lateral displacement of said roller means within said bearing passages.

3. Extensible bookcase furniture comprising at least two mating shelf portion means having mutually displaceable interlocking finger section, rectangular communicating grooves along adjacent longitudinal mating edges of said fingers, continuous circular bearing passages in said fingers communicating with said grooves at the opposite edges of said fingers, and free-fitting roller means housed in said bearing passages and extending into both grooves at the opposite edges of said fingers, said grooves of adjacent fingers limiting the lateral movement within said bearing passages of said roller means, said roller means in one of said fingers being positioned to engage the roller means of an adjacent finger to prevent the mutual displacement of said fingers beyond a predetermined length and to form a substantially unitary stable supporting surface.

4. Extensible bookcase furniture comprising a plurality of shelves, each of said shelves having two mating shelf portion means comprising end portions and mutually displaceable interlocking finger sections, rectangular communicating grooves along adjacent longitudinal mating edges, continuous circular bearing passages in said fingers communicating with said grooves at opposite edges of said fingers, first and second side walls for supporting said end portions of said shelves, and free-fitting roller means housed in said bearing passages and extending into both grooves at the opposite edges of said fingers, said grooves of adjacent fingers limiting the lateral movement within said bearing passages of said roller means, said roller means in one of said fingers being positioned to engage the roller means of an adjacent finger to prevent the mutual displacement of said fingers beyond a predetermined length.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 361,688 4/1887 Gebhardt 108-83 1,033,844 7/1930 Tyden 10888 1,085,648 2/1914 Walter 10883 X 1,317,550 8/1919 Cass 108-l02 1,359,452 11/1920 Walker 182223 1,774,268 8/1930 Harding 108-65 2,010,633 8/1935 Heath 108143 2,548,469 4/1951 De Gaal 108-83 2,750,242 6/1956 Viehmann 108-83 3,078,130 2/1963 Beeck 108-83 GLENN O. FINCH, Primary Examiner.

B. R. GAY, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

